OREANDA-NEWS. HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:HMSY) today announced the acquisition of Essette, a web-based care management platform which helps risk-bearing healthcare organizations identify, engage, and manage at-risk patient populations to improve outcomes while managing costs. Prior to the acquisition, Essette was a privately held and organically grown care management software company, leveraging technology in inventive ways to meet payer needs. The current Essette customer base includes managed care organizations and care delivery organizations. The approximately $20 million purchase was funded with available cash.

“Essette is a market leader, with a demonstrated track record of supplying payers with technology solutions to support care management and care coordination. As our customers increasingly focus on managing their members through the care continuum, the addition of Essette gives HMS powerful new software tools to leverage our historically strong data analytics capacity and distribution channel as we further evolve our technology solutions for risk bearing entities,” said Bill Lucia, HMS Chairman and CEO. “This acquisition is a strategically important first step in our strategy to build a broad foundation of technology and service solutions to help our customers better manage quality, cost and compliance across all lines of business. We were also attracted to the recurring revenue potential for the Essette workflow solutions,” added Lucia.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to sell our care coordination, navigation and planning services to the expansive HMS customer base,” said Andy Gaudette, Essette CEO. “As noted in a recent Gartner report, ‘Care management workflow applications form the operational backbone of payer population health management programs.’1 In addition to controlling costs, payers are increasingly focused on improving outcomes, patient engagement and compliance – particularly as value-based reimbursement increases.  The Essette software suite sits at the intersection of each of those needs,” concluded Gaudette.

The Essette core technology platform includes case management, utilization management and population health management which collectively enable collaboration and facilitate best practices for payers across the care continuum. Primary Essette modules include:

  • Case and disease management using a framework based on NCQA and CMSA guidelines
  • Care plan development and analytics-driven campaigns designed to engage members in wellness and health promotion programs
  • Appropriate and cost-effective care through efficient management of authorization requests and inpatient stays, including auto-approvals using embedded evidence-based guidelines

About HMS

HMS Holdings Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides coordination of benefits and payment integrity services for payers. The Company serves state Medicaid programs; health plans, including Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage and group and individual health lines of business; federal government health agencies, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Veterans Health Administration; government and private employers; and other healthcare payers and sponsors, including child support agencies. As a result of the Company’s services, our customers recover billions of dollars annually and save billions more through the prevention of improper payments.

About Essette

Improved health and lowered costs require an integrated approach. One that’s flexible, affordable and promotes care across the continuum. Essette® web-based care management software offers a robust alternative to ‘shrink wrapped’ applications. Incredibly powerful and user-friendly, Essette software—built upon a refreshingly efficient platform—is rapidly becoming the preferred choice for healthcare organizations seeking a simple means of delivering high-value, collaborative care. Whether the need is for real-time monitoring and reporting of data, interface ability with “core systems,” analytics, exchanges and external EMRs, or the added expertise of Clinical Consultants, Essette is committed to providing its clients with integrated solutions that combine technology with creative thought and integrity.